The Return
by Iamokota
Summary: What happened after "The Kiss" in Half-Wit? This is just a little what-if one-shot, on what I would like to have seen... Hameron!


A/N: Just a little what-if scenario. This is strictly a one-shot and will NOT be taken any farther.

I, sadly, do not own House, Wilson, Cameron or any of them...

* * *

He felt like he was on fire. The heat from her body and the searing quality of her lips was going to burn him alive. He hadn't felt like this in years. Amazed at the sensation (or perhaps too shocked to feel anything at all), he reached up a hand and gently caressed her arm. He reflected briefly that he had never fully appreciated the softness of the hospital issue lab coats. He could feel her hands raking at his shoulder through his shirt and the gentle feel as her fingers trailed down his chest. He was losing himself in her embrace and the feel of her lips against his.

Then her shoulder suddenly lifted and he opened his eyes, looking to see what she was doing. He grabbed the hand that had suddenly slipped into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled his lips away from hers. He held up her hand and disappointment, anger, and betrayal coursed through him in that brief moment after she realized she was caught. There was no denying the needle and she did not try to explain herself. He looked at the needle and struggled to regain control of himself, shoving his feelings aside.

"A little whorish to kiss and stab," he said, back to his usual sarcasm, though he refused to look into her eyes lest she see something there, something he hadn't quite managed to hide just yet.

She looked up at him with her bright eyes and he unconsciously lifted his gaze to look at her. Her eyes were alight with desire and he felt a jolt run through him. _God, she was beautiful_.

"You kissed back," she said, her voice husky. He felt the jolt again and stamped down on his own desire, determined to keep it from her. He knew he was failing miserably though. She was still inches away from him and he still had a hand clamped around her wrist. Every cell in his body was begging him to get rid of the needle and start kissing her again, but he knew he wouldn't.

"I didn't want you to die without knowing the feeling," he quipped, yanking the syringe out of her hand. "Actually, no woman should die without knowing the feeling."

She smiled at that and the thought of how beautiful she was flitted its way through his mind again. He knew he was going to lose it soon if she didn't leave. After pestering him about his blood work some more, he finally told her what she wanted to know and she began to walk out. As she reached the door, he called out.

"You need a sperm sample, come back without the needle." She smiled at him over her shoulder.

He watched her go and wiped the taste of her off his lips, a million things running through his mind. He sat back down at his desk and tried to get some more work done, but his mind kept wandering back to her and the desire he had seen clouding her eyes. Grabbing his cane, he limped to the door, looking for Wilson.

HOUSEHOUSEHOUSEHOUSEHOUSEHOUSEHOUSE

Wilson looked up as the door to his office was forcibly flung open and bounced off the wall. Wilson sighed and watched as House came storming in as fast as his bad leg would let him. House made his way directly across the office and plopped down on Wilson's couch, popping two vicodin as he did so. Wilson 

waited for a moment to see if House would say anything, but it was obvious that his friend was in no mood to initiate conversation. Throwing caution to the wind, Wilson spoke.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on or are you just going to sit on my couch and sulk for an hour?"

House threw a withering look his way and looked out the window. Wilson waited and eventually House looked down at his hands, the closest Wilson knew his friend would get to actually making eye contact.

"Cameron," House said simply, his voice half amazed and half appalled.

Wilson's brow furrowed. "Cameron?"

House looked up, annoyance flitting across his face. "Yes," he growled. "Cameron. The skinny, manipulative, emotional rollercoaster that works for me."

Wilson forced himself not to laugh. "Thank you so much for clearing that up, Dr. House. It would have been annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly."

Wilson was gratified when the corners of House's mouth twitched. It was as good as a smile where House was concerned and Wilson knew that the real reason House had come storming into his office was about to come to light. Wilson waited a moment and then prodded his friend gently.

"What about Cameron?"

"She came to my office a little bit ago."

"And what did she want?"

"She had a recommendation letter. She said she was transferring jobs to Penn."

Wilson frowned and House turned to look out the window again. "Why would she want to transfer to Penn?"

House looked up again and Wilson could see the sarcastic glint in his eye. "Are we playing 20 questions? Should I go get Cuddy? Then we would have someone to mock and make the game interesting."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Then just spit it out so I can stop forcing the answers out of you."

"She wants to transfer because she doesn't want to work here if I'm not here. I told her I wasn't dead yet." House stopped and stared down at the floor. Wilson waited, sensing that his friend was coming to the point of their conversation.

"She kissed me."

Wilson's eyebrows disappeared into his hair. "She what?"

House glared at him, unwilling to say it again. Wilson shook his head, as though trying to clear it.

"What did you do?" Wilson asked, the shock still evident in his voice.

House looked away again and mumbled something that Wilson didn't catch.

"What?"

House rolled his eyes, but still did not look directly at Wilson. "I said…I said I kissed back."

Wilson shook his head again. "Obviously, but –"

"No," House said, meeting Wilson's eyes for the first time. "You don't get it. I kissed back."

And suddenly Wilson understood what his friend was trying to tell him. House, who never went to see a patient until he had to, House, who was known for his misanthropic ways, House, who didn't care about anyone or anything, had kissed a woman. And not just a woman, but a beautiful, young, smart, woman. Someone who could show him what it was like to be whole again. Someone who could heal the damage and give him a chance at life again. Wilson could see at once why House was so agitated.

"And you're scared of what this may mean?"

"Scared?" House scoffed. "Hardly. It was one kiss. She only did it because she was trying to get my blood."

"Cameron had the gall to do that?" Wilson asked incredulously.

"It's the pretty ones you have to watch out for."

Wilson smiled. "Actually, I think the saying goes… Oh never mind," he said, sighing. "What are you going to do now?"

House looked away. "What do you mean?"

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "I mean, what are you going to do about this? Obviously, it meant something or you wouldn't be here right now. Did Cameron notice that you 'kissed back'?"

Now it was House's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a yes," Wilson said evenly. House smirked and rose from the couch. As he reached the door, Wilson called out.

"So how was it?"

Wilson grinned at the look on House's face. Obviously his friend hadn't been expecting the question and it had definitely thrown him for a loop. House stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked at Wilson, seemingly contemplating the question. After a moment, the corner of House's mouth twitched.

"Eye opening," he said, and then he was gone.

_What am I doing here? _

Cameron kept asking herself that question, over and over again as she stood outside his door, trying to gather her courage up. She had left over two hours before with Chase and Foreman, but just before she walked out the door, she had seen the look in House's eyes. She wasn't sure if it was regret or guilt or desperation that she had seen there, but something had clicked in her mind and she suddenly understood why he had done what he had done. It was that which had her back at his door, trying to gather the courage to knock.

She had watched Wilson leave the apartment and seen the hurt and the betrayal on the oncologist's face. She wasn't sure how Wilson had found out about what House had done, but, then again, Wilson was usually very perceptive and somehow it didn't surprise her that he had figured out the truth without the help of a lab and a battery of diagnostic tests.

Taking a deep breath, Cameron raised her fist and softly knocked on the door. She waited a few moments, wondering if he had already gone back to sleep, but was rewarded when the doorknob turned and an exhausted looking House appeared in the doorframe. One look at his face, and she knew that he had not slept since she had left over two hours ago. She looked into his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice strained and exhausted.

She smiled sweetly. "You said to come back without the needle."

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Please, RnR!


End file.
